Middletown Job Study Recommends Changes, Some Officials Skeptical

MIDDLETOWN — A consultant hired to do a study of every job description and salary in the city workforce is recommending pay increases for two groups of employees and removing 21 job titles.

The common council last year approved hiring Segal Waters Consulting to do the study for $90,000 in order to review job functions and job descriptions. Officials said the last such study was done before 2005, and an update was needed.

The company submitted a draft report last month and the city is planning to provide input back to the firm by next week.

Council members and union officials this week criticized what they called a lack of supporting data in the report and said they are skeptical of the conclusions it makes.

Segal Waters' study recommends collapsing many individual job titles doing similar or related functions into general categories. For example, the report suggests changing five different secretary or clerk titles into the same title of senior administrative assistant.

It also recommends adding a few jobs to one of the unions and removing some managerial positions from the unions. Any changes to job descriptions, job titles or salaries would need approval from the council.

Segal Waters found the city employees union, AFSCME Local 466, has an average midpoint salary of about 89 percent of workers in comparable cities. The union representing managers had an average midpoint salary of 97 percent of the market average and non-union employees – mostly top-level directors – had an average that is 82 percent of the market average.

Councilwoman Mary Bartolotta, chairwoman of the council's general counsel commission, said having an update of the job study is a positive step, but much more input and discussion must occur.

"There are a few unknowns, and one of the biggest for me is how are we going to take our insurance structure into consideration," Bartolotta said.

She said the value of the insurance plan should be a major factor in determining whether salaries in different towns are comparable.

Bartolotta said she is optimistic that questions from the council and the unions can make the report much more clear.

The company compared staff in Middletown to employees in Bristol, Enfield, East Hartford, Manchester, Meriden, Milford, Southington and Wallingford.

Parking Director Geen Thazhampallath, the president of management union UPSEU Local 6457, said the about 50 members of the union have told him they are confused by the report.

"The report has left us scratching our heads as to how they came to their conclusions," Thazhampallath said. "One of the greatest problems with the report is that as you delve in, there is no information about how they came by the supporting details."

He said it is unclear what process the firm took in recommending updates to job descriptions, and that some of them seem to be entirely new without an explanation of why the major changes were recommended.

Republican Councilman Sebastian Giuliano said he also questions how the comparisons were made between towns and said the council needs to be sure job description changes include the needs of the city over the next several years.